Looking at 2002-2004 380's

[JVM225]

Looking at 2002-2004 380 Sundancers over the next few weeks.
Anything in particular to look for?

 

[shooker320]

Just bought a 2001 380 last July. I am still a newbie, but surveys are a must. Mine found high moisture under the windsheild, rod holders, and required recore of the swim platform attachment. Stress cracks on the bow rearward of the windlass. $9,200 (2 quotes)to repair it all plus some small misc stuff. The p.o. took it off the price of the boat. Currently in the shop getting the work done. Recommend checking engine/transmission alignment and instrument panel gage functionality while on sea trial. Engine synronizer is very expensive to replace. All in all it's a great boat functionality and alot of fun. Great for 2 couples to spend the weekend on. Inconvenient to hit the head at night with someone sleeping in the salon berth. Sorry if I
stated the obvoius, but you asked. Good luck and you will really enjoy the boat.

 

[JVM225]

Thanks for the input. Valuable info.
Hoping others will keep it coming.

 

[Tdady]

Get the newest, lowest hour, one you can afford. The earlier versions were very dated inside, in my opinion. The refrigerators were an issue so see if its been replaced and as shooker stated some of them have water intrusion issues. This comes from the caulk around the fittings deteriorating. I plan on having mine re-calked this spring. That requires a fair amount of work but is a must. I just started noticing water seeping from the bottom of my arch which means something up top need to be re-bed so that will be getting done as well. All in all a great boat. Do you already have ones in mind and if so what is the asking price range? Im asking because we're just starting to look at moving up to a 420/440. Tim

 

[Zach312]

These are great boats. We had a 2001 380 had no issues with the boat or the 8.1 engines. Reasons we sold and go our 40 was for diesel power, hydrolic lift, hard top, and cabin layout.

 

[rondds]

2002 and up you're OK with the engines. The 99-01 models came with 7.4s, which pretty much all died of water ingestion issues. If you do look at a creampuff 2001 or earlier, make sure they've been repowered (most have) or at least that they have water-lift mufflers (rather than the log-type mufflers). The ingestion was due to the design of the exhaust system and the tendency for that (the latest) generation of 7.4 to create suck-back due to the valve overlap.

Some early 8.1s MAY still have aluminum exhaust manifolds. Take a magnet with you when you see the boat, esp if it's a fresh-water boat.

If you buy a 2002-04 with original 8.1s, skip this section b/c it won't apply to you. Not sure what model year the 8.1 switched over to Cool Fuel III. My engines are 2008 and had CF III. I replaced both. The issue is with the paint on the inside chamber (where the fuel flows). It could flake away and mess up the injectors. If the boat has pressed-on seawater hoses, it's CF III. Cool Fuel IV (the one you want) has hose-clamp retained seawater hoses. CF IV also has a blue wing-nut drain plug, which CF III doesn't. None of this may pertain to the boat you're looking at - depends on the year of the engines.

This was the CF III on my port motor. The water hoses are on the left of he pic. Notice NO hose clamps. These tend to leak and fail (note the crud where it mates up to the unit). It also has that funky bracket you see there on the left. Also, no blue drain plug beneath the brass fuel line fitting.

This is what a CF IV looks like. Note just beneath the fuel line (brass fitting) you barely see a blue wing-nut raw water drain plug. This is also indicative of CF IV.

2002-04 8.1s have a fuel cooler that's more like the conventional transmission oil cooler, so as long as your boat is not a re-power, as mentioned above, none of this applies.

If you're a bilge-rat, you'll LOVE the space in the engine room. Other positives are SS windshield, solid door to the fwd stateroom, shower stall and a real mattress in the fwd stateroom (not foam).

Good luck in your search and feel free to pick everyones' collective brains!

 

[JVM225]

Thanks to all for lots of great info. Keep it coming.
Going to miss my old 300 when the time comes. Especially now that I have it just the way I want it. She really woke up with the two new motors and the counter rotating drive I put on a few years ago. It really is a get up quick, go anywhere boat. But after all these years we really do want a separate shower and a genny, so it's time to move on.
Really loving the 380's we've been scoping out. Just to complicate things though, we saw a couple of 2007 36 Sedan Bridges. Also looks like a great boat. The second stateroom is appealing. More of a stretch on the budget, and we're not sure we want to make the switch from an express to a sub 40 bridge, but it is a nice boat too.
The good thing is that there are a fair number of boats around to look at. Lots of them seem to have pretty low hours on them. I guess that's the upside to the high fuel prices the last few years.

 

[jbruno]

Take a look at my 2002 380 with 412 hours. I bought it in Newport, RI 2 years ago with only 200 hours.

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2002-Sea-Ray-380-Sundancer-678267

I'm selling it because I'm bring my 480 Sedan back from Florida and I don't need two boats.